Polystyrene is used in packaging and disposable service ware associated with the food packaging and fast-food service markets. In these applications, it can be desirable to provide the polystyrene as a composition which is photodegradable on exposure to UV light.
The current emphasis on ecology, and in particular, the disposal of bulk rubbish, is in part directed to coping with the tremendous increase in the use of plastic containers and plastic films for packaging foodstuffs, and garbage wraps and the like which not only present a serious disposal problem but increase unsightly litter in picnic areas, on roadside and the like.
The actual decomposition of polystyrenes is relatively slow and hence despite some discoloration and/or embrittlement when exposed to sunlight these plastic materials tend to remain substantially intact for relatively long periods of time.